Air Fryer Fried Chicken is one of those recipes you have to see to believe! Crispy, juicy fried chicken without all the oil or mess! This is the perfect example of just how good air-fried food can be!
Air fryer fried chicken is a game changer for someone that loves fried chicken, but is trying to eat a little healthier and avoid all that grease!
Besides the obvious health benefits of air frying versus deep frying, this method for air fryer fried chicken is so much easier too! No waiting for a pot of oil to heat up, no worry about it splashing on you, no stinky grease smell in the house, no wondering what to do with all that leftover oil…
Who doesn’t love a cooking hack that saves time, and effort, and still tastes fantastic?
I am a LOVER of deep-fried chicken and I am so glad that I can now say I am a LOVER of AIR FRIED chicken too!
The taste of air fryer fried chicken still gives you that glorious crispy coating on the skin and the tender, juicy goodness of a perfectly cooked chicken!
Ingredient Notes:
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Chicken – When we cook this we use thighs and drumsticks. We like the bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces. The recipe will work for breasts and wings too, but pay attention to cook time for the breasts.
Breading – While grocery shopping be sure to pick up buttermilk, kosher salt, cornstarch, and flour. This is the base of the breading!
Seasoning– We try to keep the seasonings simple. We use a little bit of hot sauce, garlic, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, and cracked pepper.
How to Make Air Fryer Fried Chicken:
- Soak- Add your buttermilk, hot sauce, garlic, and salt to a large bowl. Whisk to combine these ingredients, then add your chicken to the mixture. Make sure most of the chicken is covered in the liquid, then cover the bowl, and refrigerate for 2-4 hours. If the liquid in your dish doesn’t fully cover the chicken, flip the chicken over after an hour or so. Remove your chicken from the fridge an hour before cooking to allow it to come to room temperature.
- Breading – Add the flour, cornstarch, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper to a dish and give it a stir to combine. Drizzle in a few tablespoons of the buttermilk mixture and stir it together with a fork to make the breading a bit clumpy.
- Coat – Remove the chicken from the buttermilk marinade and shake off the excess liquid. Dredge it in your flour mixture fully covering all sides in the breading and then add it to your air fryer basket.
- Air Fry – Spray the chicken liberally with oil on all sides and air fry for 25 minutes at 360 degrees F. Depending on the size of your chicken pieces, you may need to adjust the cook time. For all chicken you want the internal temperature to be 165 degrees F for safe eating. For dark meat, you get the best-tasting meat if you cook to an internal temp of 185 degrees F.
Don’t be shy with the oil spray! If each bit of the breading isn’t covered in some amount of oil, it will come out dry from the air fryer. We’re still using much less oil than we would if we were deep frying!
Shop our Favorite Air Fryers!
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FAQ:
Frying chicken in the air fryer is healthier than deep frying chicken, but at the end of the day, it’s still skin-on chicken with a breading. The chicken is not submerged and cooked in oil, so it does have less fat than if it were deep fried.
Be sure not to overcrowd the air fryer basket. You need space between each piece of chicken for air to flow as this is what will crisp up the breading on the chicken.
Yes you can! The wings, legs, and thighs will have similar cook times to be safe to eat. However, the breasts will take additional time and that time will also depend on your air fryer. Your best bet is to get a meat thermometer and cook to an internal temp of 165 degrees F.
Recipe Tips!
Be sure not to leave any dry spots when spraying with oil spray or the breading won’t crisp as nicely.
The hot sauce in the buttermilk marinade doesn’t make the chicken spicy. It just adds more flavor to the chicken.
Use a meat thermometer to check for doneness. All chicken should be cooked to a minimum of 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Dark meat can go up to 185 degrees and will stay moist and tender.
Comments & Reviews
Cecelia Carr says
Whenever I can have crispy fried chicken without all the splatter and hassel, I LOVE ITTTT 🙂 Thanks for sharing this recipe 🙂 🙂 🙂
Karly Campbell says
Can’t beat fried chicken! <3
Patty says
In 40 years of marriage, I’ve never successfully made fried chicken. Now with an air fryer and this recipe, I not only made fried chicken, but it was better than our deli’s and the popular fast-food places. I can’t wait to eat the leftovers!
Karly says
Oh wow! I’m so happy this recipe was such a success for you! Thanks for the kind review, Patty!